ViewletBuilder8 and ViewletQuiz5 offer Viewlet Authors a tool to create text-based narration on slides containing sound. This feature is more commonly known as Closed Captions (CC). Originally intended for hearing-impaired viewers, closed captions are a text version of the spoken part of a television, movie, or, in the case of Viewlet Authors, a computer/mobile device demo. Again, it was first developed to aid the hearing-impaired, but with all that is going on in today's crazily technological world, it's useful for so much more. For example, captions can be read when audio can't be heard, not just due to the situation of a learner/viewer being hearing-impaired, but also due to a noisy environment, such as an airport. Closed captions also prove useful to learners/viewers who are in an environment where they must be quiet, such as a library or hospital, etc.

There are a variety of ways to integrate closed captions throughout your Viewlet. You can place the CC layer directly on each slide containing sound. Or, you can create a master slide with a CC layer and apply this master layer to one or multiple slides. You can have one long sound clip with a single CC element associated with it, or (and this is the recommended design) have a sound layer with multiple CC elements to break up the narration or multiple sound layers, each with its own CC element. Closed captions may be, at first, disabled, allowing the learner/viewer to turn on this feature, when needed, with the click of a button along the player bar. Or, CC can start instantly, with the option to turn if off at will at any time.

If your Viewlets do contain ANY type of sound (voice narrations, sound effects, etc.), you should seriously consider integrating the CC element within your own videos for any of the reasons/situations previously noted. It will definitely benefit all of your learner/viewers, whether they are hearing-impaired or not.

To learn more about working with this feature, click on one of the links below.